Nazareth takes a new approach by getting it done with defense

Nazareth's Jovanna Martinucci (11), seen here defending in the Class 3A state title game last spring, has helped the Roadrunners take a more dynamic approach to defense this season.

Nazareth's Jovanna Martinucci (11), seen here defending in the Class 3A state title game last spring, has helped the Roadrunners take a more dynamic approach to defense this season. (Brian O'Mahoney / Pioneer Press)

Gregg VossPioneer Press

Last season, defense was pretty simple for the Nazareth girls basketball team.

The plan: Stay in man-to-man and drive everything inside to the 6-foot-4 Alyssa Geary, who averaged five blocks per game.

But this season, Geary is playing college basketball at Providence, and the Roadrunners don’t have a player taller than 5-11.

No problem. Nazareth has added so many wrinkles on defense this season that it wears opponents down physically and mentally, and that’s translating into wins.

The Roadrunners defeated Zion-Benton 41-37 on Saturday for their 18th win in their first 19 games. Against the Zee-Bees, the Roadrunners ran a trapping scheme into the backcourt and employed a 2-3 zone in the second half to control the paint.

Senior guard Annie Stritzel had 19 points against Zion-Benton. She’s averaging 25 points and five steals per game this season.

“Last year, we had a 6-4 in the middle of the paint, so we were more, like, undisciplined,” said Stritzel, who helped lead Nazareth to the Class 3A state final last season. “So when people beat us, we weren’t even mad about it. They’re going up against a 6-4, and that shot’s getting blocked.

Jon Langham / Pioneer Press

Franchesca Metz (left) and the Roadrunners have stepped up their defense.

Franchesca Metz (left) and the Roadrunners have stepped up their defense. (Jon Langham / Pioneer Press)

“Defensively, we’re doing so much switching (this season). I think we confuse a lot of teams with our defenses that they don’t know what to get in, and that has won us a ton of games.”

Nazareth’s defense was critical at the Montini Christmas Tournament, where the Roadrunners beat four opponents in four days. Coach Eddie Stritzel said his team relied on several defensive approaches en route to winning the Montini tournament title.

The Roadrunners beat Lyons 58-36 on Dec. 26 using a full-court press. The next night, they beat Evanston 74-66 by playing man defense and packing it in due to the Wildkits’ solid shooters. Then they beat a physically bigger Fremd squad 44-35 by implementing a zone. Finally, they went back to man defense to stop host Montini 41-40 in the title game on Dec. 29.

Senior guard Jovanna Martinucci said a big emphasis this season has been a focus on the help side, and it’s working in large part because there is strong team chemistry.

“We kind of know each other so well, we can understand when someone needs help,” said Martinucci, who is from Berwyn. “We understand when we need to be there for each other: on the help side, going left, going right. We know who we’re guarding.”

Junior Franchesca Metz is Nazareth’s tallest player at 5-11 and typically guards the opponent’s best player, no matter whether that player is the point guard or the center. She agreed with Martinucci that help-side defense is key, and though the team chemistry is good, it does take a lot of trust for that approach to be effective.

“We’re all on help side all the time,” said Metz, from Downers Grove. “When we’re playing in the games, it’s definitely harder to be on help side and watch your player and the ball at the same time, but we have trust in each other to be on the help side at all times.”

Freshman forward Caroline Workman, who didn’t have the chance to play with Geary, said something else is piling up with all of those wins.